Sagan: Olympic circus gives way to politics

Sagan

The Olympics gave all America a welcome diversion for two weeks — diversion from killing heat, economic sputtering and foreign bloodletting, with a solid measure of national pride at the end. American athletes performed well at the games this time around.

But, of course, all things must end, and London is sweeping up as you read this. The circus is over, gone, and it’s now time for ... more circuses.

I suppose I should take our political season more seriously than I do, but I don’t always respond well to what I “should” do. Anyway, this year the rhetoric seems to get on my nerves more than it ever has.

I believe we are past broad-brush thematics. I want to know how the complex machinery that is America’s eco-governmental institution is going to be made to perform, by both candidates. If we are to re-elect president Obama then we ought to know how he intends to manage this erratic and unpredictable beast over the next four years such that America will show an improvement over the last four. If we are to elect Romney, we ought to know what he intends to dismantle, what he intends to offer as a substitute and how that will be an improvement four years from now.

For me there is one hopeful sign, and that is that the Republican Party seems to be moving away from social conservatives who have, through their steadfast efforts to codify their morality in state and federal law, driven the GOP into so deep a ditch that political academics are beginning to wonder if the party is finished. There is a generally perceived awareness that Americans don’t have time for flag-burning amendments or gay marriage opposition when the European economy is on the brink of panic, the Middle East is hemorrhaging its way into the twenty-first century, and America’s economic prospects are, at best, murky. What we require of our government isn’t that we waste time on such social embroidery but that we apply and discard rules as needed so that our market structure allows all of us to win.

Mitt Romney’s running mate, Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, seems to be an obvious sop to that end of the GOP political spectrum that Romney can’t reach by himself. But so far, Ryan has shown a willingness to focus more on economic than on social issues, and those are the issues that seem to be resonating this year.

As a side note, it would be helpful for all of us to remember that when things start to look their worst we Americans de-emphasize superficial differences among us; but when things are at their best we seem more likely to demonize trivial differences so as to keep the ball we call “conflict,” which is at the heart of both politics and market economics, rolling.

But this year, it really is the economy, stupid. Or smart guy, as the case may be. And I’ve already heard all I want to hear about “restoring the American dream.” I want an answer: How?

One thing strikes me as obvious: We have taken our confidence away from ourselves. Americans don’t seem to like the things we make the way we used to. We aren’t as satisfied with each other’s capacity for rendering value equal to the value demanded. Our money looks overseas for more profitable investment. We send jobs that were once performed proudly by American hands to other countries whose workers can perform the same routine tasks more cheaply but under circumstances we would consider exploitive were they to be found here. “Made in America” doesn’t always mean “The Best There Is” anymore. If anything needs to be restored, that’s it.

Enough circuses already. It’s time for America to choose a destiny. This is real. This is personal.